The
English language titles of the Edition Corvey consist
of just under 3,300 works, of which the collection of novels
comprises nearly two-thirds; also contained are 194 dramas,
and more than 400 poetic works. Of especial interest
is the high frequency of women poets and novelists, including
over nineteen first editions by Mary Meeke, and a dozen or more
by Barbara Hofland, Louisa Stanhope, and Ann of Swansea. Other
prose forms included are fairy tales, legends, fables, and childrens
stories, as well as biographies, essays and contemporary literary
criticism, travel writing, periodical work, and over one hundred
anthologies.

The chart shows how significant
the Corvey holdings are, with figures taken from a total of
2,256 novels identified from the period 180029. The
Nineteenth Century Short-Title Catalogue, also held in
the Arts & Social Studies Library, is another significant
listing of holdings of the major British and American libraries
of literature. Corveys is doubly important:
it is not only on a par with NSTC, holding over 70% of
first-edition unique titles (if subsequent edition holdings
are counted, this figure rises to above 78%), but actually contains
copies of the works themselves, whereas NSTC can only
indicate libraries which hold these novels.

In the light of the acquisition of the Edition
Corvey (English Language) by Cardiff University in early
1997, there are many opportunities for research open to students
who wish to pursue studies in Romantic literature. The
strength of this collection lies not only in the richness of
the CME, but also in the vast number of catalogues and secondary
sources held in the Arts & Social Studies Library, which
include the National Union Catalog, NSTC, ESTC,
British Museum catalogues, and a variety of bibliographical
apparatus. These basic sources are complemented by
the wealth of knowledge and expertise supplied by the various
members of the English studies staff who specialise in the eighteenth-
and nineteenth-century literature. Potential students
and researchers are welcome to inspect the material, and those
who wish to enquire further about research opportunities in
studies within the Cardiff Corvey Project, should contact Professor
Peter Garside (Chair), Centre for Editorial and Intertextual
Research, ENCAP, PO Box 94, Cardiff CF10 3XB (tel.+44 (0)29
2087 5622; fax +44 (0)29 2087 4647; e-mail GarsideP@cf.ac.uk).